Bilbao climate

Name: Bilbao
Address: ES

Bilbao is warmest in August, with average highs of 23 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 6.7 °C. November is the wettest month (136 mm) and August the driest (56 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Bilbao averages 1,083 mm of rain, 26 days above 25 °C and 1 days below freezing.

Spain · population 347,342 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month August 23 °C
Coldest month February 6.7 °C
Driest month August 56 mm
Wettest month November 136 mm
Least cloud August 56 % cloud
Hottest on record July 41 °C
Coldest on record February -3.6 °C
Warmest sea August 22 °C

What to expectBilbao through the year

Bilbao has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 12 °C in February to 23 °C in August, a swing of 11 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 26 days a year reach 25 °C, 3 of them reach 30 °C, 1 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C, in July.

Rain is strongly seasonal. November averages 136 mm against 56 mm in August — 2.4 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

The sea off Bilbao is warmest in August at 22 °C and coldest in February at 13 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	11.9 °C	112 mm	69 %
February	12.3 °C	102 mm	67 %
March	14.1 °C	98 mm	64 %
April	15.4 °C	97 mm	66 %
May	18.1 °C	86 mm	65 %
June	20.6 °C	68 mm	62 %
July	22.6 °C	59 mm	58 %
August	23.5 °C	56 mm	56 %
September	21.8 °C	65 mm	58 %
October	19.3 °C	98 mm	62 %
November	14.9 °C	136 mm	68 %
December	12.6 °C	106 mm	69 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	11.9 °C	6.9 °C	9.2 °C	19.7 °C	-3.1 °C	0	0	1
February	12.3 °C	6.7 °C	9.3 °C	24.0 °C	-3.6 °C	0	0	0
March	14.1 °C	7.9 °C	10.9 °C	25.2 °C	-0.4 °C	0	0	0
April	15.4 °C	9.3 °C	12.3 °C	27.3 °C	2.3 °C	0	0	0
May	18.1 °C	11.9 °C	15.0 °C	33.9 °C	2.6 °C	1	0	0
June	20.6 °C	14.7 °C	17.6 °C	38.9 °C	8.6 °C	3	1	0
July	22.6 °C	16.8 °C	19.6 °C	41.2 °C	10.7 °C	5	1	0
August	23.5 °C	17.5 °C	20.3 °C	37.3 °C	10.2 °C	8	1	0
September	21.8 °C	15.7 °C	18.6 °C	36.6 °C	7.7 °C	5	0	0
October	19.3 °C	13.4 °C	16.1 °C	29.5 °C	4.8 °C	2	0	0
November	14.9 °C	10.0 °C	12.2 °C	24.1 °C	1.4 °C	0	0	0
December	12.6 °C	7.8 °C	10.0 °C	21.0 °C	-1.2 °C	0	0	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	112 mm	15	9.3 h/day	69 %	78 %	19 km/h	13.0 °C
February	102 mm	14	10 h/day	67 %	77 %	19 km/h	12.5 °C
March	98 mm	13	12 h/day	64 %	77 %	18 km/h	12.6 °C
April	97 mm	15	13 h/day	66 %	78 %	18 km/h	13.4 °C
May	86 mm	14	15 h/day	65 %	79 %	16 km/h	15.2 °C
June	68 mm	11	15 h/day	62 %	81 %	16 km/h	18.0 °C
July	59 mm	10	15 h/day	58 %	81 %	15 km/h	20.5 °C
August	56 mm	10	14 h/day	56 %	80 %	15 km/h	21.7 °C
September	65 mm	11	13 h/day	58 %	79 %	16 km/h	20.4 °C
October	98 mm	14	11 h/day	62 %	77 %	17 km/h	18.2 °C
November	136 mm	15	9.7 h/day	68 %	78 %	19 km/h	15.8 °C
December	106 mm	14	9.0 h/day	69 %	78 %	19 km/h	14.1 °C

How Bilbao compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Bilbao	23 °C	6.7 °C	1,083 mm	26
Gasteiz / Vitoria · Spain	25 °C	1.4 °C	756 mm	47
Santander · Spain	24 °C	5.5 °C	1,167 mm	34
Donostia / San Sebastián · Spain	23 °C	6.1 °C	1,465 mm	26
Logroño · Spain	27 °C	1.9 °C	572 mm	70
Pamplona · Spain	26 °C	1.3 °C	740 mm	55
Burgos · Spain	26 °C	0.06 °C	578 mm	56

Where Bilbao ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The warmest places in Europe in January	37thof 50	12 °C
The warmest places in Europe in December	39thof 50	13 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe in December	42ndof 50	14 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe in March	42ndof 50	13 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe in April	43rdof 50	13 °C
Warmest sea temperatures in Europe in November	43rdof 50	16 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Bilbao.

QuestionsCommon questions about Bilbao’s climate

When is the best time to visit Bilbao?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. July, August, September sit closest to 20 °C on average, August is the warmest month and August the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Bilbao get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 23 °C. About 3 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 41 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 6.7 °C in February, the coldest month. A normal year has 1 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Bilbao?

November, averaging 136 mm over 15 days with rain. The driest month is August with 56 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,083 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Bilbao rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.